In this news clip, a NBC reporter visits Lake Hopatcong in New Jersey and interviews local residents about the impacts of climate change on their community.
They discuss harmful algae blooms, warmer winters, and the negative impacts on local businesses.
Teaching Tips
Positives
Students will probably be surprised to hear New Jersey describes as "ground-zero" for climate change in the United States.
The video weaves together personal stories of local residents with scientific explanations in a very engaging way.
Additional Prerequisites
There may be an advertisement at the start of the video.
Students should already be familiar with climate change and its causes.
Differentiation
Teachers can incorporate this video into an economics class by discussing the many impacts climate change has had on tourism, businesses, agriculture, and individuals.
This video could be used in a geography class to demonstrate how changes in climate have affected how the community is able to use the land and the lake.
Cross-curricular connections can be made in biology classes by discussing how algae blooms affect lake ecosystems or how warmer winters lead to the spread of invasive species.
Other resources about warming lakes include this video on the topic, this article about a climate activist and her experience with Lake Erie, this similar video about Lake Hopatcong, and this game about preserving lake health.
Scientist Notes
The video highlights how rising temperatures over the past 20 years have impacted Lake Hopatcong, ice fishing contests, and the livelihoods of communities in New Jersey. Climate change is attributed to human activities and there is need to take urgent actions to stem the climate crisis. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Science and Engineering
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
HS-ESS3-1 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
Social Studies
Personal Finance & Economics
Economics (D1): Students understand the principles and processes of personal economics, the influence of economics on personal life and business, and the economic systems of Maine, the United States, and various regions of the world by explaining how scarcity requires choices and relates to the market economy, entrepreneurship, supply and demand.
